Senior Revenue Assistant of Dabugaon Tehsil office Chandana Mondal was detained by police in Nabarangpur district on Sunday for allegedly misappropriating Government funds.
Based on a complaint filed by Dabugaon Tehsildar Sandhya Somarath, the Dabugaon police detained Mondal on the charge of embezzling funds of over Rs 63 lakh.
As per the complaint, on May 24, Mondal put up a challan form with correction of the billed amount before the Tehsildar for approval. Suspecting something wrong, the Tehsildar asked Mondal to update the bank passbook of the tehsil office.
But Mondal had allegedly been dillydallying in visiting the bank for passbook update on the plea of rush at the bank. Subsequently, the Tehsildar informed the higher-ups about the matter. On May 26, a 12-member team led by Nabarangpur Sub-Collector Bhaskar Raita visited the Dabugaon Tehsil office and examined the official documents.
During the official inquiry, it was found out that since September 2020, Mondal had been misappropriating funds through various means. During interrogation on Saturday, Mondal fell sick and was admitted to the Nabarangpur District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). Later, he was shifted to the Koraput DHH in a critical condition.
A bank messenger of the SBI Dabugaon branch has been suspected to be involved in the irregularities. After registering a case at the Dabugaon police station, the police are investigating the alleged irregularities, a police official said.
